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NYPD

Ten climate change activists, who pled not guilty to disorderly conduct charges, were found innocent in Manhattan Criminal Court on Thursday, but not for reasons they had originally sought. Nonetheless, they believe they helped set a powerful legal precedent for the climate movement.

Police in a number of U.S. cities aren’t just tasering and tear-gassing protesters, they’re attacking their sense of hearing. The Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD), also called a “sound canon,” is a powerful, military-grade electronic megaphone that, in addition to broadcasting police commands, can be used to disperse crowds with a chirping noise reaching 162 decibels, 42 decibels above the level that can cause immediate and permanent hearing damage.

As Sandy showed Many activists now appearing in court had organised relief during the storm. Hopefully NYPD officers will remember that.

Ninety-nine people arrested during Occupy Wall Street's 17 September anniversary actions had their court dates last week. They trooped into the courthouse accompanied by green-hatted legal observers and National Lawyers Guild representatives, and faced the judge. Their charges mostly boiled down to "being part of a public protest".

Over the past decade the New York City Police Department’s Intelligence Division (Intel) has built an active, fully staffed spying unit devoted to “mapping” the city’s large Muslim community in search of “home-grown” terrorists with no known ties to international jihadist groups. Their sense of alienation and resentment about the mistreatment of Muslims, it is feared, might lead them to commit “lone-wolf” attacks.

After her arrest at an Occupy Wall Street protest in December, Samantha Wilson expected to be booked, fingerprinted and subjected to a mug shot. But when a police officer raised a small device to her face and began photographing her eyes, she declined.

Ms. Wilson, 32, said her refusal resulted in a threat from the officer.

“He said: ‘It’s not really optional. It’ll take you longer to get out of here if you don’t do it,’ ” she recalled.